Katia
by Izxz
Summary: Katia is back-- and Gaia is thrilled. But after a glitch in Yuri's plans sends Gaia to her mother's aid, Katia has a surprise of her own.
1. Chapter 1

Gaia walked briskly down a street close to her apartment. She tried to keep her mind off of the fact that it was Christmas Eve and she was alone once more. Her father had taken off yet again, promising to be back by Christmas. Broken promise #493 in Gaia's life. Jake had gone away with his father for the holidays. If Ed didn't hate her before, he would know that all the communication they were exchanging lately were 3-second awkward glances. Sam...Sam. She couldn't even think about Sam, she was SO stupid. If Gaia wanted one thing for Christmas it would be a time machine to fix all the stupid accusations and heart ache in her life.  
  
Doughnuts would be fine, too, though.  
  
Gaia heard a rustling in a bush across the street. Her ears perked up as she waited anxiously. A good ass-kicking is all she needed right now. The bastard might as well wrap himself up because a fight brings out the perfect amount of holiday cheer in Gaia. Then again, the right amount of cheer for Gaia is about -100 on the cheer-o-meter of regular people. Gaia breathed in a wisp of air and watched the little cloud of smoke evaporate into the sky as she exhaled. More rustlings, she saw shadows caress the picket fence of a house in very bad shape. Gaia swiftly walked over, crouching, keeping herself in the shadows. Her eyes darted left and right as her ears went on high alert. She could feel her blood exploding inside of her, excitement creeping up her spine.  
  
Gaia peeked over the bush only to see a man mugging a woman, barely 25, with feathery blond hair and deep violet eyes filled which fear. The man was enveloped by the shadows, which prevented Gaia from seeing his face. She grabbed his shoulders firmly as possible and threw him off the woman. Gaia placed her foot tightly against his throat, preventing him from breathing.  
  
"Get lost!" she spat at the choking baboon.  
  
He choked for air and grabbed her leg, twisting her over so she fell on top of him. He started reaching in her pockets and around her blouse. Either he was feeling her up or this was a two-for-one special mug. Gaia shifted over so her hand had enough room and bolted up her arm backwards, giving a nice blow to the creep's nose. He lost grip as he flung his hands up to his bloody nose.  
  
"Bitch!" he cried.  
  
Gaia sprung backup, but the mugger wasn't long to follow, almost immediately as he stood, Gaia delivered a kick to his head, sending him back down. This was too easy. She didn't need to finish this guy off; he was already out cold. Gaia looked at the woman, still frightened, whose eyes were now a soft shade of lavender.  
  
"Run." Gaia spoke loudly.  
  
The women nodded and gulped. "Thank you, so much." She ran off as Gaia instructed.  
  
Gaia felt drowsy but wasn't going to black out so close to home. She ran as the wind blew through her hair for several minutes before she reached home and entered the darkened hallway of her apartment room where she passed out on the couch.  
  
When Gaia awakened a mere 10 minutes after, she opened her eyes just for a few seconds, the lights of the tree with nothing underneath it stinging her eyes. She dosed off to sleep shortly.  
  
She awoke to the depressing shine of light illuminating the room. Rubbing her eyes, she noticed a small gift under the tree. It was silver with a beautiful blue ribbon - her mother's favorite colors. Gaia scrambled off the couch to the gift and unwrapped it, curiosity spilling into her veins.  
  
It seemed to be a walkie-talkie. She was utterly confused and pressed down on the red button.  
  
"Hello?" Gaia asked, uncertain.  
  
"Hello, dear. It's been so long since we've spoken," an airy, elegant voice sang.  
  
"Who the hell is this?" Gaia asked, irritated and almost certain of it being a stupid prank.  
  
The voice laughed softly. "You've changed quite a bit, Gaia. It's Katia," the voice said, as if to be smiling with the words. 


	2. Chapter 2

Gaia would've laughed if she weren't so pissed. And she was MAJORLY pissed.  
  
"Okay, whoever the hell you are, why would you choose CHRISTMAS to rub this in my face? You think I'm not lonely as hell WITHOUT your help?!" Gaia screamed into the walkie talkie. Her father had told her never to let your anger take over her, but when it came to her mother, Gaia couldn't help it.  
  
Wait a minute, Gaia thought, How could anybody get into the apartment without me noticing? I'm trained to notice that kind of stuff. Unless....Oh God. It's got to be some sort of Organization. Loki? Yuri? Who?! Gaia had to know.  
  
"Gaia, please. I know how hard this is to believe, but I need your help."  
  
I bet you do! Gaia thought angrily, Aww, would you like to order those clones by VISA? Or whatever the shit they want with me this time. Gaia didn't want the person to know that she knew what was going on. Just then, another thought hit her.  
  
Why would they use my mother to get to me? Especially in this situation. They would know I knew something was up. Couldn't whoever was tricking me use Jake? Or Sam? Or Ed? Why would they use such a bizzarre method to get me where they wanted?  
  
"Gaia? Are you there?" The voice asked, with concern.  
  
Shit! Way to let them know you're thinking...that you're on to them! Gaia silently cursed.  
  
"I want you to prove you're my mother. I know this is some-", Gaia stopped for a moment, remembering to keep her knowledge on the downlow, "practical joke," she finished slowly.  
  
"Alright," the voice said confidently, and began telling the story of Gaia's life.  
  
That's it, I'm not an idiot. Gaia thought.  
  
"Are you done?" Gaia asked rudely.  
  
"Well, you asked," Mrs. Imposter Mother said, matter-of-factly. The fake Russian accent was only annoying Gaia further.  
  
"Oh please, you think that any government wouldn't know all that? I was spied on my whole life! I don't know who you work for but I'm going to find out!" Gaia spat, and with that, she dropped the walkie talkie, angrily grabbed her coat and walked out the front door.  
  
She didn't know where she was going; but that was the least of her thoughts at the moment.  
  
Gaia stuffed her hands in her pockets and roamed around China Town. She was thinking. Hard. She was trying to figure out how to figure out who the hell "Katia" was. Gaia eyed the windows of various windows, watching her reflection. iOh, it's no use! How am I supposed to find a fucking clue in CHINA TOWN?!/i  
  
Something caught her eye. In a toyshop called "Yolan's Toy Shop", was the same walkie talkie she had received this morning. iWoah. I thought for sure they would've used a government gaget.../i In case she was being watched, she breifly ran her eyes over the package. bWorks for as long as 2M!/b Gaia read.  
  
iWait a minute. That means they must've been close!/i Gaia thought excitedly. iTime to bust these losers!/i  
  
Gaia was already off on her feet, like she was trying to race against her shadow. In a few seconds, all Gaia could hear were her feet patting against the pavement, the roar of traffic and the distant callings of more information.  
  
When she was close to the apartment, she began her search. An hour later she gave up all hope, stormed into her apartment angrily and feeling uncompleted. She decided to check the internet for something - anything about "Yolan's Toy Shop".  
  
Once she had logged on, Gaia searched Google for the toyshop. She found a website about the founders of the shop. Nothing caught Gaia's eye as she roamed around the website. Then she read it,  
  
iFormer Employees: David Laviant, Confidy Strung, Jack Kong.../i None of it mattered, except the name that stood out most - iKatia Petrova.iHm...something is connected here. The store might possibly be a front for Yuri's government. He might've used it to keep an eye on Katia during the early years she was in New York. It can't be a conincidence./i Gaia's mind was thinking too hard today.  
  
Almost instantly, the "You've got mail!" icon flashed before Gaia's eyes. Her fingers clicked the button only to appear a hidden email address. The message read:  
  
From: unknown  
  
To: GMoore17  
  
Firebreather  
  
Gaia read the single word over and over and over again but it was no use. What did it mean? Who sent it? Was it a clue, possibly? Then, a burst of memory fireworked into Gaia's brain. iFirebreather...rainy nights...Dad working at CIA...mom sleeping. I would...what would I do?/i, Gaia thought helplessly, iI would try to wake my mother up...but she never would. I would sing and jump but she wouldn't wake up. I would be lonely at night and desperate for her to stay up with me./i, Gaia remembered, iI would be so loud at times...Katia would call me Firebreather. It was an inside joke. Who could've known about that? It was a special thing between my mother and I./i Gaia shook her head, and silently moaned. All this thinking was driving her insane! Just to make matters worse the doorbell rang ear-deafingly.  
  
Gaia reluctantly went and opened the door.  
  
Sam. 


End file.
